Naming

PermDock has one naming rule: the brand is the noun. The decision object is a PermDock, the variable is permdock, the factory is createPermDock, and the import path, not the identifier, says which framework you are in. Every package, docs page, skill, error message and example follows this page. The rationale is recorded in ADR 0005.

The three core names

import { createPermDock } from 'permdock'        // core: PermDock
import { createPermDock } from 'permdock/next'   // Next.js: { getPermDock, getPermission, PermDockProvider, permdockHandler }
import { createPermDock } from 'permdock/hono'   // Hono: { permdock, protect }
import { createPermDock } from 'permdock/mcp'    // MCP: { protectServer }

There is no NextDock, HonoDock, createNextPermDock or createMcpPermDock. When two adapters are used in one file, alias at the import: import { createPermDock as createHonoPermDock } from 'permdock/hono'.

use* on the client, get* on the server

React reads permissions synchronously from a snapshot; servers resolve them asynchronously per request. PermDock follows the duality next-intl uses for useTranslations / getTranslations and useExtracted / getExtracted:

The client hooks and <Protected> are direct exports with no factory: the permission reference carries all the types, so usePermission(permissions.post.update, post) is fully typed without a generic wrapper. Only the server side needs a factory, because only the server holds the policy. describe(decision) is a framework-free core export used by every UI adapter and by Problem Details (UI). Vue, Svelte and Solid expose the same names in their own idiom (composables, stores, signal accessors); the UI parity table lists them.

Definition and policy vocabulary

Strings appear only as .key and .scope on the wire, in audit events and in catalogs. The public API takes references.

The subjectFrom<Provider> pattern names the source of the material (a JWT, a Supabase claims object, a Clerk auth object, a Better Auth session, MCP authInfo), always returns a Subject (anonymous when the material cannot be trusted) and never throws, so every provider reads the same way at the call site: createPermDock(policy, subjectFromClerk(await auth())). See Authentication and PermDock.

Reserved words

These never appear as public identifiers, for the reasons given:

What each adapter's createPermDock returns

Two entries deliberately do not export createPermDock:

• permdock/react (and react-native, vue, svelte, solid) export PermDockProvider, usePermDock, usePermission, usePermissions, useFilter, useTenant, useMemberships, useRoles, useAssignableRoles, useApproval, useSubject and <Protected> directly.
• permdock/better-auth, permdock/clerk and permdock/supabase export their subjectFrom* mapper and, where the provider stores roles, a <provider>RoleSource; both are values you pass to a factory.
• permdock/webmcp exports registerTools(document.modelContext, group, { permdock }) because it consumes a client PermDock rather than creating one. permdock/drizzle, permdock/prisma and permdock/kysely export toWhere. permdock/jwt exports subjectFromJwt and createJwtSubjectResolver because it produces a subject for a factory, not an instance.
• permdock/approvals exports memoryApprovalStore and approvalsHandler, and permdock/cloud exports cloud; both produce values you pass to a factory (store, sink, snapshots) rather than a PermDock.
• Build hooks live in @permdock/cli, not in permdock: permdock/next/plugin exports createPermDockPlugin and @permdock/cli/unplugin exports createPermDockUnplugin (Vite, Rollup, webpack, Rspack, esbuild through unplugin). Both run collect at build time and never wire runtime API (0006). The create prefix and the PermDock noun follow the factory rule; the suffix names the host (Plugin for Next's config API, Unplugin for the bundler family).

Files and folders

• The server factory lives in src/permdock/server.ts in every example. The definition is src/permissions.ts; the policy is src/policy.ts; generated definitions are src/permissions.generated.ts.
• Example apps are apps/examples/<adapter>; the docs page is /docs/adapters/<adapter>; the source folder is packages/permdock/src/<adapter>. The same short name is used in all three.
• Errors are PermDockDeniedError, PermDockApprovalRequiredError and PermDockValidationError. Problem Details type URIs end in /denied, /approval-required and /validation.

Open questions

• Whether decide should get an explain alias for discoverability.
• Whether <Protected> should be joined by a second, <Can>-style inline render-prop component.
• Whether the derived-instance methods should be tenant(id) / team(id) (current) or a single scope({ tenant, team }); the tenancy page carries the rationale for two named methods.